Morning journal and courier., 1887-03-21
THE LARGEST LIBRARY IN THE
 WORLD.


 umes in One Collection-Useful ess
 Contracted For Want of Proper Cat
 aiogutng-HOW the Vast Number of
 Books WereCoHected-RuI Govern
 Ing Their Use.
 From the London Standard.]
 By far the largest library in the world is the Bibliotheque Rationale at Paris. It 80 large that nobody knows how many books it con- tains. They have never yet been all cata- logued or counted, and when the olassi6ca- ton of 6 great library falls behind it takes some time to get it in order, especially when no attempt is made to bring up the arrears. Current works and new acquisitions are now catalogued in this library as received, but many old collections-amongst others the official documents relating to the Revolution still lie unassorted. Mere bulk then goes for little unless it be accompanied with utili ty As to this and as to the accommodation it provides for readers, the French national library is 8 long way behind the reading room of the British museum, and vexatious restrictions and needless formalities meet the reader at every turn. But before refer ring to it's organization we shall pass coul d'oeil over the history of this remarkable collection, which, though sold by impecuni ous kings and otherwise dispersed more than once, has never been so widely scattered that it could not wholly or partially be brought together again.
 The earliest nucleus of 8 national library in France was made by the Emperor Charle magne, and some of his manuscripts are still preserved in the present collection. At the death of the Emperor the books were sold and the receipts given to the poor. His r Io noh0rnoirn ho6 taste for literature and gathered 8 few vol umes together. He was followed by St. Louis, who bought up as many of the works of the early Christian writers as he could get At his death the library was dispersed again. This time it fell to the nonasteries. From the time of St. Louis to the days of John the Good Q35e) the library had little merit; but after the battle of Poitisrs it had grown sufficiently to be thought worth plum dering, and accordingly the English carried most of it away with them. One Bible then taken is now in the British museum. There was library in the reigns of Philip the Hardy and Philip le Bel, but the real founder of the royal library of France was Charles, the Wise He had collection of about one thousand books, which at that time was con- siderable. He indiscreetly, however, lent some of his books out to read, and as at this early period the habit of never returning books borrowed had been contracted, he thus lost several volumes. Soon after this the whole collection was sold to the Duke of
 Bedford and brought to England, but was dispersed at his death in 1435 and some of the works found their way back to France. Charles VII. was too much occupied with politics to look after library, but Louis TX. and Charles VIII. were both collectors. Sc was Louis XI., many of whose books still exist. Francis I. had library at Fontaine. bleau with Rude as his librarian, and from fha af %o r1o tho
 brary remained there and went on increas ing. In the reign of the latter monarch it was removed to Paris, and in the course of the transfer several valuable works were stolen.
 Between the reign ot Henri ". and the time of Catherine de Medicis-who augment ed the collection largely-the library was | changed from place to place in Paris, and al every change suffered more or less from pill lage. A catalogue made out in 1929 showed that there were then six thousand volumes of which very few were>printed books Large private collections were bequeathed tc the library about this time, and under the | indefatigable activity of Colbert it went on prospering. In 1866 it was installed in ths Rue Vivienne, and after the death of Maza l rin-whose great collection went to form { 1 library by themselves-was placed in hi! l palace in the Rue de Richelieu, where it hai since remained. In 1888 the library had al l ready sWeuec 10 1Orty -three tnousanu print | ed books and ten thousand manuscripts Louvois, who succeeded Colbert in it's man agement, resolved to open it to the '1earnet | of all nations'' for study. The time given t | the learned to pursue their researches wa
 limited, only two hours a week, SC that W find that Voltaire and others borrowed book
 from the librarian. The library was well al
 ranged and getting into good working orde
 at the time of the Revolution, which we ar
 told opened a new era of prosperity for il
 All the great chateaux were then plundere6
 monasteries ransaoked, religious institution pillaged, and everything seized was conasoa